I've found myself in a sort of conundrum lately and I figured Stack Overflow would be the place to ask this question. I normally post under my personal account here, but I'm writing in anonymously this time so as to make sure my co-workers don't find out too early that I'll be leaving them behind in a few months.
My fiancee just landed a great software development job at a very large, stable company. She'll be starting after she graduates and just after we get married (May to June-ish). Her compensation and benefits package will be more than enough to take care of both of us, so I agreed to step down from my current position so we could move to a larger city with more opportunities.
I'll probably take a few weeks off to decompress, but I don't want to stay unemployed very long. Since there will be less pressure on me to bring home a second income though, we're not as adverse to risk as we normally would be. I'm currently debating whether to eventually seek employment at a small company, a larger company, do contract work, or do something else entirely.
I haven't been in the software development business long (2-3 years plus some small personal projects), but I've seen what things can be like at a startup (my first job) and at a more established, mid-sized business (my current job). Most importantly what I'm looking for out of a new employment opportunity is challenge and variety.
Does this situation describe anyone on SO? If so, what did you do/what are you doing? How is it working out for you? Programming is a pleasure as well as a career skill for me, so I want to make sure it stays that way.
Thanks to all in advance for any responses.
